1. Field of the Invention
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-56839, filed in Korea on Aug. 18, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein. The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an integral type air conditioner which increases thermal efficiency, and eases transportation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general integral type air conditioner, an indoor unit part and an outdoor unit part are constructed as a single body thereby making unnecessary a long hose, which eases installation, transportation, etc., thereby increasing demand. Further, the indoor unit part is disposed indoors to cool air and the outdoor unit part is disposed outdoors to cool a hot working fluid.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a conventional integral type air conditioner. Construction and operation of the conventional integral type air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
As shown, the air conditioner includes a base panel 1 formed on a bottom surface of the air conditioner; an indoor unit part formed indoors to cool indoor air; and an outdoor unit part formed outdoors to exhaust hot air.
The indoor unit part includes a front grill 3 formed on an indoor front surface of the base panel 1; an intake grill 4 formed on a front surface of the front grill 3; an indoor heat exchanger 5 formed at an inner side of the front grill 3; an air guide 7 formed at an inner side of the indoor heat exchanger 5; a scroll 9 formed at an inner side of the air guide 7; an inflow guide 11 formed at a front surface of the scroll 9 that corresponds with the indoor heat exchanger 5; and an indoor fan 13 formed within the scroll 9.
Discussion of the construction and operation for the indoor unit part will be made below.
At a lower side of the front grill 3, an intake part 31 is formed as a passage through which indoor air is introduced. At an upper side of the front grill 3, a discharge grill 32 is formed which allows air heat-exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger 5 to be again discharged toward the indoors.
The indoor heat exchanger 5 is disposed at an inner side of the front grill 3. The indoor heat exchanger 5 exchanges heat between the entering through the intake part 31 and the working fluid.
The air guide 7 partitions the air conditioner into indoor and outdoor portions. Accordingly, the air guide 7 shields an indoor cool air from an outdoor hot air by the air guide 7. Further, a brace 8 is formed at an upper stage of the air guide 7, that connects with a shroud 18 which will be described below.
A flow guide surface 91 is formed within the scroll 9. As may be seen in FIG. 1, the flow guide surface 91 has a curvature from one side to the other side, to guide smooth flow of the indoor air. Further, an orifice 11 includes an orifice hole 12 which guides indoor air passing through the indoor heat exchanger 5 into an indoor fan 13. The orifice 11 also has a discharge guide 111 formed at an upper stage of the orifice 11 to guide heat-exchanged air into a discharge grill 32.
The indoor fan 13 intakes indoor air through the intake part 31, the indoor heat exchanger 5 and the orifice hole 12. Additionally, the indoor fan 13 is a centrifugal fan which intakes air through the orifice hole 12, and then blows the air in a centrifugal direction. The outlet air from the indoor fan 13 is guided along the flow guide surface 91 to flow into the discharge guide 111.
The above description is for the indoor unit part of the integral type air conditioner. A construction and operation of the outdoor unit part partitioned from the indoor unit part by the air guide 7 will be henceforth described below.
The outdoor unit part includes a motor 15 formed outside of the air guide 7; and a blower fan 17 fixed to an outdoor rotor axis of the motor 15. The outdoor unit part also has a shroud 18 formed on the base panel 1 to guide an air stream formed by the blower fan 17; an outdoor heat exchanger 19 formed at the outdoor base panel 1 to face with the shroud 18; and an outer case 21 for forming an outershell of the air conditioner.
The motor 15 protrudes such that two sides of a rotation axis of the motor 15 face each other. One side of the rotation axis passes through the air guide 7 and extends to a center of the scroll 9, thereby rotating the indoor fan 13. Additionally, the other side of the rotation axis is formed at the blower fan 17 which results in an outdoor airflow. The blower fan 17 further includes a ring 171 which connects its wing ends with one another.
The shroud 18 includes a passage hole 181 within which the blower fan 17 is positioned. Further, the shroud 18 guides outside air the blower fan 17 intakes, and forces the flow of outdoor air towards the outdoor heat exchanger 19. The shroud 18 connects to both side ends of the outdoor heat exchanger 19, and is supported by the brace 8 at an upper stage.
The outdoor heat exchanger 19 allows the intake air from outside and the operation fluid of an air conditioning cycle to be heat-exchanged with each other.
A compressor 20 is disposed as a structural element of the air conditioning cycle on the base panel 1 between the air guide 7 and the shroud 18. On the base panel 1, a compressor mounting part 10 on which the compressor 20 is mounted is formed.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a usage state of a related art air conditioner.
Referring to FIG. 2, when the air conditioner begins operation, the indoor unit part introduces air through the intake part 31 disposed at a lower side surface of the front grill 3. The indoor part then cools the introduced air and outputs the cooled air back indoors through the discharge grill 32 disposed at an upper surface of the front grill 3. Further, the outdoor unit part intakes air through the passage hole of the outer circumference surface of the outer case 20. Heat-exchange then occurs with the air the outdoor unit part intakes and the heat-exchanged air exits toward the outdoors through another passage hole provided on a rear surface of the outer case 20. In the drawings, arrows represent airflow.
However, the above-described related-art integral type air conditioner has the following drawbacks.
The related art integral type air conditioner includes the indoor fan 13, the outdoor fan 17 and the motor 15. However, heat-exchange efficiency deteriorates in the related-art integral type air conditioner since the indoor heat exchanger 5 and the outdoor heat exchanger 19 are formed in an appropriately rectangular shape such that the forcible airflow generated by the circular indoor fan 13 and outdoor fan 17 does not reach an entirety of the heat exchangers 5 and 19. To further illustrate, air flow does not reach corner portions of the heat exchangers 5 and 19. Thus, full heat-exchange does not occur at those corner portions.
Further, the compressor 20 is deflected and installed at one side of the base panel 1. Accordingly, the related art integral type air conditioner has the drawback in that movement and installation is difficult since the weight of the compressor 20 moves the center of gravity of the air conditioner to one side. Thus, the shifted center of gravity increases the difficulty associated with moving the air conditioner.